Ailroad spike



R. E. OSBORNE. RAILROAD SPIKE. KPPLICATIONI FVILED 001. s, l92l.

1A1 @WL Patented May 23, 1922.

units" am eareaar lorries.

ROBERT at OSBORNE, 0: :IAMIBURG, NEW YORK.

.aAILR'OAD SPIKE.

p fi ma m. Patented May as, 1922.

Application filedOctolier 6, 1921. Serial No. 505,816.

To allwhom it may concern; Be it known that I, ROBERT E. ()SBURNZ-i. a citizen of the United States, residing at Hamburg. in the county of ,llrie, State of 'New York. have invented anew and useful way spikesaiid has for its object to economisleepers, and for preventing cally incorporate a greater and more. efficient holding principle for securely fastening the rails to the ties for preventing move.- ment in a vertical'directi'on. Also to provide spikes for preventing longitm'linal creeping of the rails along the ties or placement ofthe rails.

A further ob ect 18 to provide a railroad spike comprising a shank. vertically dis posed. elongated teeth on the inner face of said spike adjacent the. head of the spike and adapted to bite into a rail flange for holding the rail against longitudinal move ment. Also to provide the rear side of the spike with a plurality of spike holding teeth, said teeth being provided with horizontally disposed surfaces for biting into the tie and holding at a right angle to the line ofstrain on the spike, said teeth being provided with downwardly and inwardly inclined outer surfaces which allow the spike to be easily driven into a tie.

With the above and other objects in view the invention resides in the com]iination and arrangement of parts as hereinafter set forth, showm in the drawings, described and claimed it being understood that'changcs in the precise embodiment of the'invention may be 'made within the scope of what is claimed without departing from the spirit of the invention. 7

In the drawings Figure 1 is a front elevation of the spike showing'the rail flange engaging teeth.

Figure 2 is a side elevation of the spike.

Figure 3 is a rear elevation of the spike.

Figure 4; is a top plan view of the spike and a-portion of a rail flange showing the vertically disposed teeth imbedded in the flange for preventing longitudinal movement of the rail.

Referring to the drawings, the numeral designates the shank of the spike and 2 the upward d is headthereof. Disposed on the inner face S3 of the spike beneath the head 2 and vertically disposed are elongated teeth 4. which teeth. when a spike is driven into cross-tic. cut their way into or engage notches in the flange 5 of a railas clearly shown in Fig ure 4 in such a manner as to hold the rail against longitudinal displacement or creeping. l'pon the side (3 of the spike is a plurality of bevelled surfaces 7, which surfaces extend downwardly and inwardly and have their adjacent ends connected together by horizontally disposed surfaces 8 which form shoulders for engaging in a cross tie and holding the spike against upward movement.

the horizontally disposed surfaces increasing the hearing friction to create a more ellicient bondage to the railroad tie. The upper inclined surface T has its upper end E) extending outwardly beyond a vertical line between the upper ends of the other bevelled surfaces 7, thereby forming means whereby as the spike is forced into a railroad tie the teeth 4- will be forced inwardly in the direction of the flange 5 of the railroad tie. thereby insuring a biting into the railroad rail flange by the vertically disposed bevelled teeth 4-. \Yhen necessary the rail flange may .be. softened. for instance by annealing. The

lower end of the inner face 3 of the shank terminates in a downwardly and outwardly extending curved surface l(). which when the spike is driven into the tie forces the spike in the direction of the arrow 1, and thus promotes the elliciency of the sloping surfaces T and the horizontally 'disposed surfaces 8 which are thrust against the fibres of the wooden tie.

. in practice. when using the spike. it is to be started into the wooden tie at a slight in clination, with the top or head 2 inclined inwardly in the direction of the rail, and with the point ll tight against the flange 5. In the process of driving, as will be seen, the

A point 11 will be forced outwardly in the direction indicated. by the arrow .7 by theof the spike. By reason of this weclging eonst-ruction in the spike, it will require a greater force to withdraw it. the rail acting as the drawing medium. The forcing of the spike against the tibres ot' the wooden tie also produces an equal force of the. teeth 4 against the rail flange and thus produces the desired feature which eliminates the creep ing of the rail in a horizontal direction alon; ties.

The invention having been set forth what is claimed as ne and useful is 1. A railroad spike comprising a shank and a head carried by said shank. vertically disposed elongated teeth on the inner face oi said shank and disposed adjacent the head thereof, the outer tace of said shank being, provided with downwardly and inwardly extending; bevelled surfaces, thereby forming horizontally disposed shoulders. the upper inclined surface having its upper end extending outwardly beyond vertical alignment with the upper ends of the inclined surfaces. the vertically disposed teeth inclined downwardly and inwardly. the lower end of said spike being provided with a curved surtace which curves downwardly and outwardly from the inner face of the spike and forms means for tilting" the spike during: its downward movement into a tie.

2. The combination with a railroad spike comprising a shank having a head thereon, of a sloping inner surface adjacent the head which head extends over and beyond said sloping, surface, of teeth carried by the outer face of said shank, said teeth being formed by downwardly and inwardly inclined surfaces having their adjacent ends connected together by horizontally disposed surlzlces, the lower end ot said spike being provided with a curved or sloping surface which e.\:- tends downwardly and outwardly i'roui the inner face of the spike terminating in a chisel shaped point alul acting in conjunction with the upper inner inclined suri'acc tor the purpose of forcing the shoulders torined hy the outer inclined surfaces against lihrcs ot a wooden tie to increase the drawing re sistance ot the spike.

In testimony whercol l have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two suhscrihing witnesses.

ll()ll llt'l l). (llilllfillh'li.

Witnesses: 

